Self-adjusting electric switch



Oct. 17, 1967 D. A. LONG- ETAL SELF-ADJUSTING ELECTRIC SWITCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 26, 1965 IN VEN Toes: Donaia' Q. 02?

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SELF-ADJUSTING ELECTRIC SWITCH Filed Feb. 26, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR mam ATRWA/E'y United States Patent 3,348,011 SELF-ADJUSTING ELECTRIC SWITCH Donald A. Long, Willard C. Shaw, and Marvin T. Carlson, Anderson, Ind., assignors to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 26, 1965, Ser. No. 435,662 15 Claims. (Cl. 200-166) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A control switch which is useful in controlling an automatic transmission of a motor vehicle is provided which has parts connected with a throttle valve and an accelerator pedal. The switch is self-adjusting since one part of the switch is rotated to an adjusted position once the switch has been connected with the accelerator pedal and the accelerator pedal initially actuated. The control switch includes two contact plates one of which is driven by a shaft. A lost motion connection is provided between the contact plates which permits a reverse movement of one of the contact plates relative to the other whereupon the other contact plate becomes driven. The two contact plates each carry electrical contacts which cooperate with the fixed contacts of the switch.

This invention relates to an electric switch and more particularly to a self-adjusted electric switch which is adapted to be actuated by remote control.

The present invention is concerned with electric switches that are actuated by a remote control apparatus and is useful in arrangements where the electric switch must close a circuit when an actuator reaches a certain predetermined position. As one example of this type of apparatus, an electrically controlled automatic transmission for a motor vehicle requires a switch which will close at a predetermined position of the accelerator pedal. Since the accelerator pedal is connected with the throttle valve of the carburetor through a linkage, it is diflicult to provide an electric switch which can control one or more solenoids in the transmission in accordance with accelerator pedal posi tion.

It accordingly is one of the objects of this invention to provide an electric switch which is self-adjusting and which is adjusted to its correct operative position when a manual actuator such as the accelerator pedal of a motor vehicle is fully depressed to operate the switch and to cause it to self-adjust to the correct position.

A further object of this invention is to provide a selfadjusting electric switch where an element which carries the fixed contacts of the switch is adjusted to a correct position after the switch is connected with its operating linkage and following a single operation of the operating linkage.

A further object of this invention is to provide an electric switch where a lost motion connection is provided for the contact carrier of the switch such that once a circuit is closed Within the switch, it is not opened until the actuator moves a predetermined distance in a direction opposite to a contact'closing movement. 3

A further object of this invention is to provide a selfadjusting electric switch which includes means for initially holding the moving parts of the switch in one fixed position prior to connecting the actuating linkage to the switch fully described hereinafter.

. reference numeral 26. 45

3,348,61 l Patented Oct. 17, 1967 and further where after the holding means is remo ved an actuating movement of the actuating linkage causes the switch to adjust itself to a correct'position forsubsequent control an. automatic transmission having electrically energizable control elements and further where the switch is operated by the throttle linkage on a motor vehicle.

.Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein preferred embodiments of the present invention are clearly shown.

In the drawings: FIGURE 1 is a diagram illustrating the switch of this invention connected with the throttle linkage of an engine and with the accelerator pedal of a motor vehicle.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a self-adjusting switch made in accordance with this invention.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a partial plan view of an opposite side of I the switch shown in FIGURE 2 and looking in the direction of the arrow designated by numeral 4 in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along line 55 illustrating some of the internal parts of the self-adjusting switch of this invention.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIGURE 3.

' Referring now to the'drawings and more particularly to FIGURE 1, the reference numeral 10 designates an interfnal combustion engine for a motor vehicle having a carburetor 12 controlled by a throttle valve 14. The throttle vvalve 14 is connected with a rod 16 and this rod is connected with alink designated by reference numeral 18 that forms a part of a control switch generally designated by reference numeral 20.

The control switch 20 is operated by an accelerator pedal 22 which moves a link 24 through suitable linkage connecting the accelerator .pedal and the link 24. As the accelerator pedal 22 is depressed, the rod 24 is moved upwardly and this rod is connected with a link designated by Referring now to FIGURE 1, it seen that the lever The lever 18 has an opening 18a and has a slotted flange 18b which receives one end of a coil spring 32. The opposite end of the coil spring is secured-to flange 26c and the spring urges the flange 260 against one edge of the lever 18. The lever 18 has an opening 180 which is adapted to receive one end of the rod 24 which moves upwardly and downwardly when the accelerator pedal 22 is depressed and and released.

' has a circular opening receiving the actuating shaft 28 and The switch 20 includes a metal housing 34. This housing has a section 36 formed with a hole 38. The hole 38 is aligned with the opening 18a formed in the lever 18 when the switch is in one extreme position. The housing 34 has a section formed with openings 40 which receive fasteners for securing the switch to a bracket 42 that is secured, for example, to the firewall of the motor vehicle.

The metal housing 34 of the switch carries an insulator plate 44 which has an opening 46. The insulator 44 carries a male terminal 48 having a section 48a (FIGURE 6) that forms one of the fixed contacts for the switch. The insulator plate 44 is fixed to the switch by crimping over sections 34a of the housing 34 into engagement with the insulator plate 44.

The insulator 44 carries a movable assembly generally desigfiated by reference numeral 50. This movable assembly includes an insulator 52 which carries male terminals 54 and 56. The male terminal 54 is connected with a fixed contact 54a while the male terminal 56 is connected with -'fixed contact 56a. The terminals 54 and 56 are integral extensions of the contacts 540 and 56a.

The insulator 52 has an integral boss 52a and has an integral section 52b which extends outwardly through slots formed in the housing 34 and in the insulator 44. The movement of the assembly 50 is limited by the width of the slot formed in insulator 44 between walls 44a and 44!) which receives extension 5212.

The assembly 50 is positioned between an arcuate section of the housing 34 and a part of the insulator 44 and can rotate between positions determined by Walls 44a and 44b. The insulator part 52 has projections 520 which ride on the annular wall 44c of insulator 44.

The actuating shaft 28 of the switch has a knurled section 60 which is press-fitted to a driver member 62 that is formed of insulating material. The driver member 62 carries a triangularly shaped contact 64 and has an I axially extending boss or projection 62a.

The driver member 62 is positioned within a recess 66 formed in an annular contact carrier part designated by reference numeral 68. The part '68 is formed of insulating material and carries metal contacts 70 and 72 which have the same shape as contact 64.

It is seen from FIGURE 3 that the contact carrier 68 f has an opening which fits over an annular portion 62b of driver member 62. The contact carrier 68 has three bosses 68a which engage the insulator 44 when the parts are assembled as shown in FIGURE 3.

It can be seen from an inspection of FIGURE 3, that the triangular contact 64 is urged toward one face of the insulator 44 and the insulator 52 by a spring 74. The

contacts 70 and 72 are likewise urged by springs toward the faces of insulators 44 and 52 and the faces of these insulators lie in the same plane as is apparent from an inspection of FIGURE 3.

The extending portion 52b of the insulator 52 is engaged by a U-shaped spring clip 80 that snaps over the extending portion 52b and the section 34b of the housing 34. This section of the housing has an opening 340 which receives a crimped in portion 80a of the spring clip 80. The part 52b of the assembly 50 is gripped by the retaining clip 80 with such a force as to permit shiftable move- 'terminals 54 and 56 are'used as output terminals for energizing a control element in the automatic transmission. It is important in such an arrangement that the contacts 54a and'56a be connected at the time that the accelerator 22 is fully depressed since terminal 54a controls the downshifting of the transmission. The switch arrangement must therefore provide a correlation between accelerator 'pedal position and the closure of the contacts of I the switch.

In using this switch for controlling an automatic trans- -mission, the switch is fixed in position as by securing it to a bracket 42. The lever 18 is then moved to a position where the opening 18a becomes aligned with the opening 38 formed in the housing 34. In this position of the lever 18, the movable parts 62 and 68 of the switch will be in the FIGURE 5 position. When the lever 18 is in this position, a pin is inserted into the opening 18a and into the opening 38 to fix the lever 18 and the actuating shaft 28 with respect to the housing 34.

After the lever 18 has been fixed with respect to the housing 34, the rod 16 is secured to lever 18 and the rod 24 is secured to lever 26. The accelerator pedal is now in its full up position and the switch has been connected with both the accelerator pedal and the throttle linkage.

Once the switch is connected to the accelerator pedal and to the throttle linkage 16, the pin is removed from opening 18a and opening 38 in the housing 34. The accelerator pedal 22 is now fully depressed causing the throttle valve 14 to move to its wide open position whereupon the throttle. valve stops in its movement and therefore stops further movement of the rod 16. As the lever 18 moves counterclockwise in FIGURE 4 due to a full depression of the accelerator pedal 22, the driver 62 will move clockwise as viewed in FIGURE 5 and will eventually engage a wall section 68b of the contact carrier 68. The driver member 62 must move through a predetermined angle before the contact carrier 68 is moved as is apparent from an inspection of FIGURE 5. As the driver member 62 moves clockwise in FIGURE 5, one edge of the boss 62a will eventually engage one edge of the boss 52a of the movable assembly 50. When one edge of the boss 62a engages one edge of the boss 52a, the assembly 50 will be shifted against the frictional hold of spring clip a predetermined amount depending upon the adjustment of the linkage between the switch and the throttle valve and the point at which the throttle valve stops further movement of the rod 16. This causes the contact 5442 to be self-adjusted with respect to the housing 54 and the driver element 62 and the contact carrier 68. The arrangement is such that when the throttle valve 14 moves against its own stop to prevent further movement of rod 16, the contacts 54a and 56a are connected by the movable contact 72 and contacts 48a and 56a are connected by contactor 70.

Once the rod 16 has been stopped in its movement as when the throttle 14 is wide open, the lever 26 cannot move since it is held by the rod 16. The levers 18 and 26 now pivot relative to each other against the force of the spring 32 until the flange 26b engages one edge of the lever 18. The spring 32 provides a force which is transmitted to the foot of the operator of the motor vehicle who is depressing the accelerator 22. The operator of the -motor vehicle therefore can now tell that the throttle is wide open and can expect a downshifting of the transmission.

It can be seen from FIGURE 5 that whenever the driver 62 moves the contact carrier 68, a reverse movement of the driver 62 will not cause an immediate reverse movement of contact carrier 68 because of the spacing between the side edges of the part 62 and the side walls of the recess 66 which include the :arcuate sections 68b. This means that once the contact carrier 68 is shifted to a given position, it will not be moved back to another position until the lost motion is taken up between the driver 62 and the contact carrier '68. This becomes important in controlling an automatic transmission since it is desirable to maintain the transmission shifted to a certain operating mode without immediately changing this operating mode when the accelerator is released.

When the shaft 28 is in its full counterclockwise position as viewed in FIGURE 5, the throttle will be set for an idling condition of the engine and the contactor 64 will supplied to terminal 56 from battery contact 48a through contactor 64 so that the solenoid in the automatic transmission is energized to switch the pitch of the transmission. As the shaft 28 and the driver 62 move clockwise in FIGURE 5, the driver eventually engages the projection 68b on the contact carrier 68 to move the contact carrier in a clockwise direction. After a predetermined movement as when the throttle is partially opened, the contact 64 will become disengaged from contact 48a. If the driver member 62 is now moved counterclockwise as when the driver lets up on the accelerator pedal, the contact carrier 68 will not be immediately moved counterclockwise but will move counterclockwise when the lost motion is taken up between one edge of the driver member 62 and one of the arcuate edges 68b of the contact carrier. This holds true for any shifted movement of the contact carrier 68.

The transmission will be downshifted with the throttle wide open when the contact 72 connects the contacts 56a and 54a and contact 70 connects contacts 48a and 56a. In this position, power is fed to contact 54a from the battery contact 48a, through contact 70 to contact 56aand then via contact 72 to contact 54a. The switch will be automatically adjusted to its correct position as explained hereinbefore the first time that the accelerator pedal is moved to its wide open position and thereafter the downshifting of the transmission will occur at wide open throttle.

While the embodiments of the present invention as herein disclosed constitute a preferred form it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A self-adjusting control switch comprising, an insulator member carrying at least one fixed contact, a shiftable member carrying an electrical contact which is engageable with said fixed contact, means connecting said shiftable member and said insulator member whereby said shiftable member and said insulator member move together when said shiftable member is moved a predetermined amount, and means for maintaining said insulator member in a fixed position once it has been shifted to this position.

2. A self-adjusting electric control switchcomprising, a housing, a contact plate carrying at least one fixed contact adjustable with respect to said housing, a movable contact, a shiftable element for moving said movable contact, said shiftable element being engageable with said contact plate whereby said contact plate is shifted to a predetermined position when said shiftable element is initially shifted to a predetermined position, and means for maintaining said contact plate in its shifted position once it has been moved to its shifted position.

3. An electric switch comprising, a housing, a contact plate formed of insulating material carried by said housing, said contact plate carry a fixed contact, a shaft rotatable with respect to said housing, a driver element formed of insulating material carried by said shaft, said driver element carrying an electrical contact which cooperates with said fixed contact of said contact plate, said contact plate being adjustable relative to said housing, and means on said driver member engageable with said contact plate for shifting said contact plate to a predetermined position when said driver member is shifted to a predetermined position, said contact engaging said fixed contact of said contact plate when said contact plate has been shifted, and means for maintaining said contact plate in a shifted position once it has been shifted by said driver member.

4. The electric switch according to claim 3 where the means for maintaining the contact plate in a shifted position is a spring clip which engages a portion of said contact plate and said housing.

5. A control switch comprising, a housing, a first contact carrier supported by said housing and rotatable with respect to said housing, said first contact carrier carrying at least one contact, said first contact carrier having a recess, a second contact carrier located within said recess and carrying at least one electrical contact, said second contact carrier being engageable with the side "walls of said recess to shift said first contact carrier when said second contact carrier is shifted, and a contact plate carrying a plurality of fixed contacts supported by said housing, said fixed contacts of said contact plate cooperating with the contacts carried by said first and second contact carriers.

6. The electric switch according to claim 5 where the side edges of the first contact carrier are spaced from the walls of the recess in the first contact carrier to provide a lost motion connection between said contact carriers.

7. The electric switch according to claim 5 where the contact plate is shiftable relative to the housing and where said second contact carrier is engageable with said contact plate to shift the same when said second contact carrier is initially shifted to a predetermined position.

8. The electric switch according to claim 5 where the second contact carrier is driven by a shaft that is supported by the housing.

9. An electric control switch for controlling an automatic transmission comprising, a housing, a shaft rotatably suported by said housing, a first lever connected with said shaft for driving said shaft, said first lever being adapted to be connected with an accelerator pedal on a motor vehicle, a second lever pivotally supported by said first lever, said second lever being adapted to be connected with the throttle valve of a carburetor, resilient means connected between said levers for urging said levers into engagement with each other, a contact carrier carrying at least one electrical contact driven by said shaft, and a contact plate supported by said housing including at least one fixed contact, said contact plate being adjustable relative to said housing, said contact carrier being operative to adjust said contact plate to a predetermined position when said first lever is moved to a predetermined position.

10. The control switch according to claim 9 where the first lever has a hole that becomes aligned with a hole formed in said housing in one position of said first lever, said holes being adapted to receive a pin for holding said first lever with respect to said housing when said switch is installed.

11. The control switch according to claim 9 where the switch has a second contact carrier that is driven by the first contact carrier and where said second contact carrier carries contacts that cooperate with fixed contacts of said contact plate.

12. A control switch comprising, a housing, a contact plate carrying at least one fixed contact adjustable with respect to said housing, a contact carrier shiftable with respect to said housing carrying an electrical contact, means for holding said contact carrier in a first predetermined position when said switch is to be connected with operating linkage, said contact carrier being operative to shift said contact plate when said contact carrier is moved to a second predetermined position, and means for maintaining said contact plate in said second predetermined position once it has been shifted to this position by said contact carrier.

13. The electric switch according to claim 12 where the means for maintaining the contact carrier in a first predetermined position includes a pair of matching holes adapted to receive a pin one of which is formed in said housing and the other of which is formed in an element that drives said contact carrier.

14. The electric switch acording to claim 12 where the means for holding the contact plate in a shifted position includes a U-shaped spring clip engageable with the contact plate and housing.

15. A control switch comprising, a housing, a shaft rotatably supported by said housing, a first plate member secured to said shaft and rotatable therewith, said shaft operative to drive said first plate member, a second plate member rotatable with respect to said housing and axially spaced from said first plate member, a contact plate carrying a plurality of fixed contacts supported by said hous- 7 8 ing, said contact plate facing said first and second plate motion connection permitting a predetermined movement members, at least one electrical contact carried by said in a reverse direction of said first plate member before firs t plate member engageable with fined contacts of said said second plate member is moved in a reverse direction. contact plate, at least one other contact carried by' said 7 second plate member and engageable with fixed contacts 5 References Cited of said contact plate, aslotformed in one of said first 7 UNITED STATES PATENTS and second plate members, and means on the other of said plate members positioned Within said slot, said means and i z slot' being sized to provide a lost motion driving conneca n y tion between said first and second plate members where- 10 ROBERT SCHAEFER, Primary Examiner.

by said first plate member drives said second plate member when said shaft is rotated in one direction, said lost HOHAUSER, Assistant Examiner- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Donald A. Long et a1.

certified that error appears in the above numbered pat- It is hereby said Letters Patent should read as ent requiring correction and that the corrected below.

Column 2, line 45, for "1" read 4 line 59, strike out "and", second occurrence; column 5, line 53, for "carry" read carrying Signed and sealed this 3rd day of December 1968.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD J. BRENNER Edward M. Fletcher, J r.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer 

1. A SELF-ADJUSTING CONTROL SWITCH COMPRISING, AN INSULATOR MEMBER CARRYING AT LEAST ONE FIXED CONTACT, A SHIFTABLE MEMBER CARRYING AN ELECTRICAL CONTACT WHICH IS ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID FIXED CONTACT, MEANS CONNECTING SAID SHIFTABLE MEMBER AND SAID INSULATOR MEMBER WHEREBY SAID SHIFTABLE MEMBER AND SAID INSULATOR MEMBER MOVE TOGETHER WHEN SAID SHIFTABLE MEMBER IS MOVED A PREDETERMINED AMOUNT, AND MEANS FOR MAINTAINING SAID INSULAWTOR MEMBER IN FIXED POSITION ONCE IT HAS BEEN SHIFTED TO THIS POSITION. 